advice please

ok i need advice please. i was 249 lbs got pregnant gave birth aug 30th at 282 lbs. i lost all the weight i gained and started hard core dieting and exercise 7 days a week. i am currently at 214 i am very proud of my accomplishments. problem is ive been eating extremely low calories. any were between 500-900 a day and usally burn 700-1200 a day. i feel good for the most part but occasional get light headed and dizzy. is it dangerous to eat to few calories even tho it works

The problem is ,that it is rarely sustainable. Your body needs fuel to be efficient, and for your current weight, and excersise levels, you need to eat a lot more. You also run the risk of your metabolism grinding to a halt, as your body will think it is starving. You risk upsetting your sugar and electrolite balances, and is likely why you feel light headed and dizzy! Slow ,steady weight loss is far healthier for you, and if you do this, you have a much better chance of keeping the weight off. 1500 cals is the least i would aim for at your current weight, and even that may be too few. We all want the weight to drop off, and i get impatient my self, but i know, that i have to do this slowly and sensibly. You have acheived a fantastic result so far, but please, take care of your self, slow down a little,and eat sensibly. I wouldn't like you to become ill! x

there is no point in stressing the body with this type of diets, you end up loosing lean mass instead of fat and make it difficult to keep i off. a reasonable target is up to 2 pounds per week, anything above that long term is not good and also risks to leave a lot of excess skin behind

Research on this very subject shows anyone eating less than 1200-1500 calories a day puts the body into starvation mode thereby hampering weight loss. You should just check your RDI, that tells you exactly how many you require per day to lose a normal amount of weight in order to keep it off and still be healthy.

So here's a cross post to someone named Coach_Dean scroll down to find his thoughts(http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/messageboard.asp).

It's not "starvation", so much as your body doesn't care where the calories come from. You will lose muscle mass and body fat. This was documented in a study after WWII (the minnesota starvation study). The study documented neurological issues (anxiety & destructive tendencies) with their subjects along with dizziness and fatigue symptoms.

A lot of people have feelings about how much you should eat. I like the idea of eating and exercising like you are already at your goal weight. This will mean that you won't see as drastic results at the end, but I believe it is healthy.

Thanks, jlbenitz - Since I restarted Monday I have been expanding my eating and not just limiting it to the MIMs. It was a good way for me to start though. They fill me up and I don't want the other ...